Lable holder

ABSTRACT

A label holder which is intended to be mounted in front of the outer end of a rod ( 3 ) that projects out from a product display stand or corresponding structure. The rod includes a member ( 7 ) which enables the holder ( 4 ) to be pivotally mounted to the rod so that the holder can swing vertically. The rear side of the holder ( 4 ) includes a number of support surfaces ( 14, 15 ). The surfaces are located at mutually different distances from the rear surface of the holder and can be caused to coact selectively with the end surface of the rod ( 3 ) or with a rod-mounted member to enable the holder ( 4 ) to be adjusted to different angles relative to the rod.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a label holder which is adapted to bemounted in front of the outer end of a rod which projects out from aproduct display stand and which is provided with means for enabling theholder to be pivotally mounted on the rod so as to enable the holder tobe swung vertically.

The label or ticket holder is primarily intended for use in shops,stores and like establishments to display the price of and/or otherinformation relating to products displayed on the carrier, for instancepackages threaded along a generally horizontal prong.

When using a rod-mounted. label holder, the price label or the like canbe caused to hang pivotally in front of the products displayed on theprong. Because the label holder can be swung vertically, it does notcreate an obstacle to the removal of products from the prong or toreplenishing the prong with new products.

An earlier embodiment of a rod-mounted label holder for use togetherwith a prong-carrying stand is described in our U.S. Pat. No. 5,442,872.

This known holder is able to take only one position and it is possiblefor the holder to be released involuntarily should it be subjected to anupwardly directed force in the plane of the label-receiving pocket.

Since a prong-carrying stand can include product display prongs that arelocated on mutually different levels, the products can make it difficultto read labels located at lower levels, when these labels are displayedwith the aid of a vertically orientated holder. This problem isparticularly evident in the case of so-called electronic labels, whereprices and other information are displayed on an electronic display.Such a display is difficult to read unless it can be adjusted to acertain angular position in relation to the line of sight.

An object of the present invention is to provide for use with aprong-carrying stand a label holder, or ticket holder, that can bereadily adjusted to several angular positions in relation to the rod onwhich it is carried.

Another object of the invention is to provide a label holder that can bereadily mounted on a forwardly projecting rod in front of a displayprong and which cannot be removed unintentionally from the rod once itis fitted thereto.

The first of these objects is achieved with a label holder of the kinddescribed in the first paragraph that includes on its rear side a numberof support surfaces which are spaced mutually at different distancesfrom the rear surface of said holder and which can be caused to coactselectively with the end surface of the rod or with means fitted to therod for enabling the holder to be set to different angles relative tothe rod.

A label holder of this nature can be set easily to different angularpositions, by relative displacement between the support surfaces and therod.

In order to enable continuous, smooth adjustments to be made to theangle of the holder, the support surfaces may be formed by a continuoussupport surface that slopes in a wedge-like manner in the longitudinaldirection of the holder, wherewith the angle of the holder is adjustedby causing the rod to coact with different parts of the sloping surface.

In order to be able to cause the rod to coact with a desired supportsurface while holding the label holder centered in front of a productdisplay prong, it is preferred that the support surfaces are provided ona displaceable slide that can be moved along the rear surface of thelabel holder.

In one preferred embodiment, the label holder is provided with meanswhich, when the holder is fitted to the rod, grip over a pin thatextends transversely to the rod, said slide being adapted to preventunintentional or involuntary removal of the holder from the pin. Thiscan be achieved with the aid of generally U-shaped mounting deviceswhich are formed so as to define between themselves and the rear surfaceof the holder an opening through which the pin can be passed and whichis blocked at least partially by the sleeve when fitted. This preventsthe holder from being dismantled from the pin without first havingremoved the slide.

Remaining features of the invention will be apparent from the followingclaims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference toexemplifying embodiments thereof and also with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates an inventive holder mounted in front of a two-armproduct display prong.

FIG. 2 illustrates the components of an inventive arrangement.

FIG. 2a illustrates an alternative embodiment of one of thesecomponents.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the holder.

FIGS. 4-7 show the holder in different angular positions.

DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a product display prong onto which packaged productscan be threaded. The prong is supported by a mounting device 2 which isintended to be fitted to a display rack or the like.

Attached to the mounting device 2 is a rod 3 which projects outgenerally parallel with the prong 1. A holder 4 is pivotally mounted onthe front end of the rod 3 in accordance with the invention. The holdercan support any desired type of label or ticket that discloses the priceof or other information relating to the products hanging from the prong1. The holder is particularly intended to support a so-called electroniclabel, i.e. an electronic display 5 with which the information displayedcan be easily altered. However, in order to enable the display to beread optimally, it is necessary to be able to angle the display so thatit defines essentially a right angle with the line of sight.

As will be seen from FIG. 2, the holder 4 includes two rearwardlyextending hook-like elements 6 which can be snapped firmly over a pin 7fitted transversely on the rod 3. This enables the holder to be swungvertically around the pin.

Subsequent to having mounted the pin 7 on the holder 4, a displaceableslide 8 is fitted to the rear surface of the holder. A bottom part 9 ofthe slide is guided in a groove or channel 10 on the holder. The slide 8also includes a slot 11 into which a guide strip 12 on the holder can befitted. The upper part of the slide 8 is located behind the hook-likeelements 6.

The slide 8 will thus block the opening between the hook-like elements 6and the rear surface of the holder 4 as shown in FIG. 4 for instance,therewith preventing the holder from being removed from the pin 7unintentionally, provided that the slide 8 is in place. Referencenumeral 13 identifies stop means for preventing sideways movement of theslide 8.

FIG. 3 illustrates how the slide 8 is able to move sideways when fittedto the rear surface of the holder. The rod 3 and the pin 7 have beenomitted from FIG. 3 for the sake of clarity.

The slide 8 has two support surfaces 14, 15 and a through-passing recess16. This enables the holder 4 to be set to three different angles inrelation to the rod 3. This is achieved by virtue of the fact that thesurfaces 14 and 15, which can be utilized as support surfaces for thefront end of the rod 3, lie at mutually different distances from therear surface of the holder. When the rod 3 is located centrally oppositethe recess 16, the rear surface of the holder 4 will itself provide asupport surface for the front end of the rod instead. The varioussupport surfaces can be caused to coact selectively with the rod 3, bydisplacing the slide 8 sideways in relation to the holder 4.

In this regard, FIG. 4 shows the position in which the rod 3 coacts withthe support surface 14 that lies distal from the rear surface of theholder 4. This gives the holder the largest angle relative to the rod 3and is used when the prong 1 is situated at a low height. The surface 14will suitable slope vertically so as to provide effective abutment withthe front end of the rod 3. It will also be seen from the Figure thatthe pin 7 is locked in the hook-like elements 6 by the slide 8, whichprevents the holder 4 being dislodged unintentionally from the pin 7 asa result of a blow, knock or some other impact.

When wishing to reduce the angle between the holder 4 and the rod 3, theslide 8 is displaced so that the support surface 15 will coact with thefront end of the rod 3; see FIG. 5.

When wishing to position the holder 4 essentially vertically, the slide8 is moved until its recess 16 is located opposite the end of the rod 3.It will then coact directly with the rear surface of the holder 4; seeFIG. 6.

FIG. 7 shows how the holder 4 can be tipped up to allow the prong 1 tobe replenished with further products or items. The position to which theholder is tipped is conveniently adapted so that the holder will dropdown relatively freely. This prevents the holder from being raised as aresult of a blow or some other impact and remaining in this raisedposition, since a slow and precisely balanced movement is required toraise the holder. In any other case, the holder will swing back to itsoriginal position gravitationally.

The slide 8 may, of course, be provided with any desired number ofsupport surfaces that will enable the holder to be adjusted to a desiredangle.

FIG. 2a shows an alternative embodiment of the slide 8. In thisembodiment, the distinct support surfaces 14 and 15 have been replacedwith a single continuous support surface 17 that slopes in a wedge-likemanner in the longitudinal direction of the slide. The support surface17 may, of course, have a varying slope in the vertical direction, so asto be well adapted to the end surface of the rod 3. Alternatively, theend surface of the rod 3 may be slightly bevelled.

A slide 8 of this construction enables the angle of the holder 4 to beadjusted smoothly and continuously, by displacing the slide so as tocause a desired part of the sloping support surface 17 to coact with theend of the rod 3.

Although the invention has been described above with reference to theillustrated exemplifying embodiments thereof, it will be understood thatthe structural design of these embodiments may be varied in severalrespects whilst retaining the desired function. For instance, theprecise design of the slide 8 and its guide means can be varied asdesired. Instead of coacting directly with the front end of the rod 3,the support surfaces may coact with selectively constructed supportmeans mounted on the rod. The shape and number of the hook-likesnap-over elements 6 can be varied. Another option is to use a single,broad generally U-shaped element.

What is claimed is:
 1. A label holder for mounting in front of an outerend of a rod (3) which projects out from a product display stand andwhich includes means (7) for enabling the holder (4) to be pivotallymounted to the rod so as to allow the holder to be swung vertically,characterised in that a rear surface of the holder (4) includes supportsurfaces (14, 15) which are located at mutually different distances fromthe rear surface of the holder and which can be caused to coactselectively with an end surface of the rod (3) or with a means mountedon the rod to enable the holder (5) to be adjusted to different anglesin relation to the rod.
 2. A label holder according to claim 1,characterised in that said support surfaces (14, 15) are comprised ofthree juxtaposed, distinct support surfaces which enable the holder (4)to be set to any one of three different angular positions, by causingthe end surface of the rod (3) or the rod-mounted means to coact withdifferent support surfaces.
 3. A label holder according to claim 1,characterised in that said support surfaces are formed by a continuoussupport surface (17) that slopes in the longitudinal direction of theholder (4) in a wedge-like manner, wherein the angle of the holder canbe set continuously and smoothly by causing the end surface of the rod(3) or the rod-mounted means to coact with different parts of thesloping support surface (17).
 4. A label holder according to claim 1,characterised in that said support surfaces (14, 15; 17) have differentangles of slope in a vertical direction, to enable effective abutmentbetween respective support surfaces and the end surface of the rod (3)or the rod-mounted means.
 5. A label holder according to claim 1,characterised in that the support surfaces (14, 15; 17) are provided ona member (8) that can be displaced relative to the rear surface of theholder (4).
 6. A label holder according to claim 5, characterised inthat said member (8) has a form of a slide which is guided in a groove(10) on the rear surface of the holder.
 7. A label holder according toclaim 6, characterised in that the slide (8) includes a slot (11) forcoaction with a guide strip (12) on the rear surface of the holder (4).8. A label holder according to claim 6, characterised in that the slide(8) includes a through-passing recess (16) such that the rear surface ofthe holder (4) is able to form a support surface for the end surface ofthe rod (3) or for the rod-mounted means in one position of the slide.9. A label holder according to claim 6, characterised in that itincludes means (6) which when fitted on the rod (3) grips over a pin (7)attached transversely to the rod; and in that the slide (8) is adaptedto prevent unintentional removal of the holder (4) from the pin (7). 10.A label holder according to claim 9, characterised in that said grippingmeans (6) is generally U-shaped and is constructed to define betweenitself and the rear surface of the holder (4) an opening through whichthe pin (7) can be passed; and in that said slide (8) blocks saidopening at least partially when fitted.